Google Goes Tubing
Webcam artists unite! Google has acquired YouTube
in an all-stock deal worth $1.65 billion. The news
has sent Google shares to new highs, well over the
$400 per share mark. Although YouTube has not turned
a profit to date, and some predict that on-site advertising
could alienate users, the deal has been very well
received by financial analysts. What Google is really
paying for is potential: YouTube is one of the ten
most popular sites on the Internet, and it is also
the major player in the rapidly growing online video
industry. (Who doesn't love home movies of teens experimenting
with fire crackers?) Detractors say that YouTube will
soon be held accountable for the massive amounts of
copyright infringement that its users are performing
on a daily basis. Some predict that lawyers will be
lining up to try and take a piece from Google's deep
pockets. This seems like a fairly safe assumption,
considering the precedent the legal community has
set on going after corporate money.
Yahoo Trying to Face Google
Yahoo needs to keep up with the Brins and Pages. Google's
recent deals with myspace and YouTube have put the
pressure on the Sunnyvale company to make something
happen. Entertainment and content used to be Yahoo's
differentiators against Google, but it has been consistently
losing out to Google in the fight for search engine
market share. Now it appears that Google has hit Yahoo
where it hurts. In an effort to add to the empire,
Yahoo has been attempting to purchase Facebook, the
second-most-popular social networking site (myspace
is number one). The problem is that Facebook's 22-year-old
CEO and founder is not willing to relinquish control.
The site has been making money from its $200 million
advertising deal with MSN and has previously turned
away several interested suitors. Although Yahoo continues
to be very profitable, the company needs to expand
if it wants to keep pace with Google.
"MSN Search" Re-branded as
"Windows Live Search"
Microsoft has been re-branding its Internet properties,
converting them to "Live." Hotmail made the switch
a few months ago from Hotmail to Windows Live Mail,
and now it's MSN Search's turn. The engine still provides
the same results; the only notable difference is some
new logos and coloring. Microsoft may have big plans
in the future for its new Live brands--we will keep
you posted.